The first design-led adventure in London and Scotland is here – a joint venture between us and On-Off Group.

Design Safari discovers Service Design and UX from companies who live by it and focuses on how to create a modern design-led organisation. This is your chance to get on the inside of companies who are putting design at the heart of their delivery in the UK. Design Safari takes place this September with the first instalment of a series of events focusing on service design and user experience (UX) taking place across the globe in 2016 and 2017.

The inaugural “design-led adventure will be hosted in London and Scotland by organisations including technology giant IBM, media powerhouse Pearson PLC, the largest tech incubator in the UK, CodeBase, and the world’s number two travel search site, Skyscanner.

In the face of widespread industry research showing that every company needs to harness design to succeed in the 21st century, there has been a high demand for the limited places available on Design Safari and we encourage applications to be made by early August.

“We know that for every £1 spent on design there is a £4 gain in net operating profit, over £20 net turnover and over £5 net exports.

Design and a focus on user experience is now viewed as a critical competitive strength across companies of all sizes, helping organisations design and develop services that work and deliver value to people. We have put together an adventure that takes people into the heart of businesses who have adopted and are embedding this approach to see how some of the UK’s best-of-class manage the process within their own organisations.”

– Sarah Drummond, Co-founder and Managing Director, Snook

The 5-day safari takes in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Loch Lomond and includes all visits, masterclasses, domestic UK travel, hotels and meals and will also be hosted by STV, the Scottish Government, Design Informatics, Loch Lomond National Park.

Design Safari: click on the image to find out more and register to participate

UX

As one of the fastest growing segments of the modern economy, UX is integral to global innovation, product success and business transformation. The corporate world is investing more in UX than ever before in 2016 but many are failing to fully leverage it. Since 2010, 27 companies founded by designers were acquired by larger companies like Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Adobe, Dropbox, and LinkedIn.

Russell Morgan CEO of On-Off Group UK said:

“The numbers don’t lie and whether you’re talking about a mobile app or a website, if you want customers to engage with the company and its products user experience is paramount. The companies who succeed over the next few years will be the ones who make design front and centre of everything they do. The whole concept of service design and UX scares a lot of people but it’s not as complicated to put in place than many people think.”

Steve Pearce, Global Design Director at Skyscanner, said:

“Design is everywhere. Design leader-ship stops it from being “all over the place”.

Skyscanner has embraced design thinking and we ensure everything we now make has the braintrust of Engineering, Product and Design guiding it’s creation. We know we’re not perfect, but you’ll see how we’re now ensuring the design team is aligned as a team and with the organisation and can deliver real value to our customers and partners.

Design is one of the few disciplines that is both art and science. When opertationlised well, it has a wonderful capacity to tangibly envision the future, and to glue desperate concepts together into coherent and meaningful experiences.

We are at an inflection point on our journey to becoming the worlds most trusted and used travel brand. You’ll see first hand how 2 of our 11 offices feel at different stages: our London office just starting out, and our Edinburgh office in full capacity. You’ll also see what we’re doing globally, bringing coherency, consistency and continuity to our design system.”